“Financial inclusion for the unbanked and underserved”—this is the highlight of BPI Direct BanKo Inc., A Savings Bank President Mr. Jerome Minglana’s keynote address during the 6th National Business and Management Conference

Mr. Minglana talked about the products and services of BPI Direct BanKo, Inc., which offers mostly financial solutions to the unbanked and underserved. It brings with it the “goal of bringing the benefits of financial inclusion to many Filipinos”.

According to data by the World Bank Global Findex 2014 in the Philippines, there were over 50.2 million Filipinos in 2016 who were “unbanked”. Mr. Minglana emphasizes how access to credit and savings and payment solutions are among the initiatives that can help address this challenge.

Moreover, Mr. Minglana explains the massive size of the micro, small, and medium enterprises in the country, comprising of over 99.57% of all businesses. Of this percentage, 89.63% are microenterprises—these are the enterprises that BPI Direct BanKo, Inc. is focusing on. Specifically, the company targets self-employed microentrepreneurs (SEME) coming from four main industries: wholesale and retail trading, manual services, food services, and agricultural livestock.

As of October 2018, the company has now over 150 branches. Its end goal is to be able to support SEMEs financially in term of credit, savings, payment, remittance, and protection.